Sirius Black and the realm of Death
by innominatus
Summary: Bellatrix and Lucius broke two prophecies at the DoM fight. Sirius Black fell down the Veil into the realm of Death. There he gets the task to enact the first of these prophecies and another chance to train Harry. Slight Greek mythology and death magic. Dumbledore bashing. Sirius-centric fic. The pic is of constellation "Canis Major", home of Sirius, the brightest star in sky.
1. The smashed prophecy

**A/N 1**. My first fic. Feedback, please!

**A/N 2**. After much hand-wringing, I had to edit this chapter and re-post. Will somebody help me with editing?

**A/N 3**. Copyrights of the Harry Potter originals are with JKR and whomsoever she signed it over to. My understanding is that JKR allows non-profit fanfiction.

* * *

**Prologue:**

The battle of the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic is a major event in the Harry Potter series. It happened by the end of book five, "_The Order of the Phoenix_", on June 18, 1996, three days before June 21st, the summer solstice for that year.

The following is a summary of the events.

Lord Voldemort sent a vision to Harry Potter via Harry's lightning scar. Harry's godfather Sirius Black was shown being tortured at the prophecy hall of the DoM. Wanting to save his godfather, Harry and friends evaded the loathsome Umbridge and traveled to the ministry. The rest is known to all readers: it was a trap to retrieve Trelawney's prophecy; Harry's friends fought with the death eaters; Sirius Black and the Order of the Phoenix arrived to help Harry; Bellatrix banished Sirius into the Veil of Death; Voldemort and Dumbledore dueled in the Ministry Atrium; the Ministry was finally forced to admit the return of Voldemort; Dumbledore revealed Trelawney's prophecy to Harry; Harry's injured friends healed under Madam Pomfrey's care; Luna ran into Harry and comforted him about the loss of Sirius. The book concludes with Harry reluctantly returning to his aunt's home at Privet Drive at Surrey, as usual, per Dumbledore's insistence.

I did not like the death of Sirius Black, which weakens Harry at his moment of vindication. This story is an attempt to further Sirius's role. It follows canon upto OotP. I add a very minor scene(Scene 1 of this chapter) to its original ending and the story takes off from the second chapter.

* * *

Sirius Black was hurrying through the DoM corridors to find and help his Godson. He stumbled into a bright long rectangular room with an enormous glass tank of deep green liquid in which some white objects were drifting around. Sirius distractedly picked up a couple of the objects which he realized was some kind of enchanted human brains, clearly the work of Unspeakables. Then the brains started to attack and Sirius realized their potential as a trump card in combat. So he stunned, shrank and pocketed them. He then rushed off in continuance of the search for Harry.

* * *

The prophecy about the solstice(source: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 35, "Beyond the Veil".)

_"You dare speak his name?" whispered Bellatrix._

_"Yeah," said Harry, maintaining his tight grip on the glass ball, expecting another attempt to bewitch it from him. "Yeah, I've got no problem with saying Vol—"_

_"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your half-blood's tongue, you dare -"_

_"Did you know he's a half-blood too?" said Harry recklessly._

_Hermione gave a little moan in his ear. "Voldemort? Yeah, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle - or has he been telling you lot he's pure-blood?"_

_"STUPEF—"_

_"NO!"_

_A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy had deflected it; his spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered._

_Two figures, pearly-white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak; their voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrix's shouts._

_"… at the solstice will come a new…" said the figure of an old, bearded man._

_"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY!"_

_"He dared - he dares -" shrieked Bellatrix incoherently, "he stands there - filthy half-blood -"_

_"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!" bawled Malfoy._

_"… and none will come after…" said the figure of a young woman._

_The two figures that had burst from the shattered spheres had melted into thin air. Nothing remained of them or their erstwhile homes but fragments of glass upon the floor_

* * *

Bellatrix banishes Sirius Black into the Death Veil(Source: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 35, "Beyond the Veil").

_Harry saw Sirius duck Bellatrix's jet of red light: he was laughing at her._

_"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room._

_The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest._

_The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock._

_Harry released Neville, though he was unaware of doing so. He was jumping down the steps again, pulling out his wand, as Dumbledore, too, turned towards the dais._

_It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch._

_Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather's wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place._


	2. Sirius reminisces on Hogwarts and Lily,

**A/N **1. I really need editing help. Is someone willing?

**A/N **2. I wandered into some Lily/Sirius sub-plot in this chapter before I could get on with the story. Now that I have gone ahead and typed it, I wonder why there is a distinct lack of Sirius/Lily fics compared to Harry/Hermione fics. The taboo in both is the same; breaking the bonds of friendship, with James or Ron, respectively. Even in canon, what about Harry and Hermione's dance in the tent in the movie?

* * *

Sirius eventually came to, still a bit dazed from the fall. He observed through his stupor that he was inside a castle amid a river, rather like the Pfalzgrafenstein castle in the exquisite Rhine valley. He had lived there once and had happily immersed into the many folk tales of the place. which was one of his lifelong interests. He had sometimes used these stories to charm the ladies.

So much so that he even told a few to Lily. Ah, how her green eyes were forever etched into his memory! Sweet Lily with her unmatched beauty and intelligence. The lively muggleborn student fascinated a lot of people. Half of all the boys were her admirers, as she was undoubtedly the prettiest girl of that year in Gryffindor. As the years passed she blossomed and seamlessly wove her web around the men. Why did it matter that she was a low birth? For, as the French writer Maupassant eloquently proclaimed, _women have no caste and no descent, their beauty, their grace, and their charm serving them instead of birth and fortune. Their native keenness, their instinctive elegance, their flexibility of mind, are their only hierarchy; and these make the daughters of the people the equals of the most lofty dames._ So the men/boys, pureblood, half-blood or muggleborn, all regardless noticed her, be it the bombastic James, austere Remus, the ignoble Snape; be it the sly Slughorn or the flamboyantly gay Dumbledore. Sirius did not stand a chance.

But she was eventually James's Lily.

James was Sirius' greatest friend and supporter. James was Sirius's brother in all but name. James helped him escape his awful relatives and accepted him into the Potter family. This was invaluable after Walburga disowned him as a blood traitor and blasted him off the family tapestry. How would he ever repay James?

Well, for a start, he suppressed his reaction to Lily's beauty. For all that she was, who could blame him for being affected? He, who filled his room with pictures of muggle girls to annoy his parents, was ever so delighted to find such a smart girl from muggle background. But he hid it well. Who from the Hogwarts alumni would ever have imagined that Sirius Black held a torch for Lily?

Were it up to him, this distant fancying would have been the end of the matter. He kept her at arm's length both when she was the Gryffindor ally of Severus Snape and later when she became James's girlfriend and got closer to his circle. Winning her over from Snape was James' one great victory. Sirius was glad about it; Lily certainly deserved better than a lifetime with as vicious and nasty a man as Snape.

So he sided with James and aided him. James and Sirius were not saints themselves. But they conveniently occupied the proverbial moral high ground against the Dark arts practitioner Snape and gleefully availed this advantage. Hogwarts was always partial to purebloods. Newcomers and mixed breeds inevitably had to endure much suffering. Not only that; the staff tacitly allowed it; in fact, the staff selection ensured it. The pureblood supremacy was so entrenched in place that it was hopeless to try to change. In this scenario, James and Sirius were of the 'light' side and had the duty and privilege to do the right thing, which they did with aplomb and gained all the accolades. Not only did they swoop in like heroic knights and rescue the victims of bullying Slytherins, but also they channeled their inner Godric and punished the perpetrators brutally.

Those were fun days of much 'marauding' in the name of justice. They became some sort of characters like the 'good' pirates or Robin Hood, and helped the unprivileged and struck at the 'big guys' via elaborate and sometimes harmful pranks. If Slytherins used tradition for protection, the Marauders hid behind pranks, the most dangerous ones reserved for the gang leaders. They thus gained many schoolyard enemies of who Snape was the most belligerent and vindictive. That man's recalcitrance annoyed the Gryffindors greatly and brought out the worst in James and Sirius, something Sirius was not proud of in retrospect. As the years went on, the frustrations from the mutual attacks, traps and such back and forth in kind, reached a boiling point.

Snape had been looking to find a way to strike the Marauders at their secret hideout and took to following them around when he got the chance. No amount of intimidation was enough to dissuade Snape whose thirst for vengeance only increased. Sirius finally had had enough and snapped. So, on a full moon night, he informed Snape how to get into the whomping willow. He only wanted to give Snape a scare; Snape was involving himself with all possible bullies and dark arts practitioners and bullied and harmed others, and tried to undermine the Marauders at every turn; he only wanted an end to all this. After the almost-debacle, he felt some remorse; but it was so hard to like Snape and he could never muster enough sorrow to actually apologize. Sirius was never one to waddle and hesitate. He always took a strong stand against objectionable people and movements. That was his downfall too, in the end.

All through this rivalry, Lily was an important focus. For James, winning her affections was a major goal. Sirius disliked that Lily took the side of the "bad guy" Snape. One just does not support certain things and the things Snape and his company indulged in were certainly shady. He did not like Lily's verbal abuse at James, calling him "an arrogant toerag" and other insults. He also resented that she set James and Snape at each other which dragged him in too. He had the feeling that she sensed his disapproval. This resentment however went away after Lily finally had enough of Snape's hurtful acts and broke off all relations and dug her heels in.

In spite of all this, Sirius could still see her positives and understood why James still pursued her. She was kind and helpful to those who needed it. He remembered an incident in sixth year shortly after they had turned 17. Silvanus Kettleburn had approached him on the new year's eve with a problem. He had an apprentice/visitor woman from Finland who suddenly collapsed and had to undergo a minor procedure. There was a potions accident earlier that day and Madam Pomfrey was too busy to care to for just one patient, and this one needed someone constantly at her bedside for holding her head or helping her into the bathroom. It would be necessary for only one night; but the patient needed a helper that someone needed to be female. Silvanus Kettleburn was not in good terms with the student population. Sirius was an exception and got along with the man and so he approached Sirius for help.

The problem was that it was New Years Eve and the girls were up for enjoying the fireworks, or partying, or the sullen ones were looking forward to spending the night in misery, and nobody would want to sacrifice the night for an altruistic act. He still chinned up and approached a few of them, to be met with lukewarm responses. Then he finally intercepted Lily about to go out with some handsome Hufflepuff boy, all dressed up and beautiful. For a moment his heart stopped; for, she looked breathtaking and no princess would have held a candle to her according to Sirius. He recovered after a moment and decided not to interrupt her outing an turned to go with a mumbled apology. She then called him back and inquired about the matter, and Sirius told her. Lily replied that she is about to go on a date and it would be unfair to cancel it; that she is willing to come back after a couple of hours if Sirius would arrange for someone else in the meantime. This was much easier for him to do, for there were quite a few girls would be willing to short errands if that would catch Sirius Black's attention. Later, according to her promise, Lily cut her date short early and instead of partying through the night, nursed the patient without sleeping until breakfast.

With the twin aims of not wanting to be beholden to her and also to honor her selfless nature, Sirius made sure to properly thank her in a major prank/banner/spectacle in front of everyone at the very next school party, without caring that he probably looked as much a fool as James usually did with her. And happily took the detention assigned by McGonagall.

Then in the final year of school, James and Lily started dating. Given all that he owed to James, paining him was the last thing Sirius would ever want. Duty comes before ephemeral dreams. Therefore he ruthlessly suppressed his feelings for Lily and kept a distance; addressed her only as 'Evans' and coolly treated her as the Miss Perfect Head Girl; never gave her the chance to probe him further; even excused himself when she once requested him to carry her heavy bag.

He then remembered how it went beyond simply an admiration from afar. Lily struck when graduation came. Hogwarts had the longstanding tradition to collect autographs from teachers, friends and acquaintances in a book. He had himself scribbled some inane nonsense in her book, and got surprised at the length of time Lily took to write her autograph for him. He was pleasantly surprised by her obviously heartfelt wishes for a great future for him, and then he saw the troublesome question she had scribbled down: "Why are you always avoiding me?". That was the turning point.

The days hence were a blur. Sirius could not continue living at James' parents place. They had been killed in a Death eater attack. As for jobs, it would be pointless to try at the pureblood-infested ministry. Jobs and promotions were done by family connections which he had himself none; not after his revolt. Financially he depended on James for a while; but soon it was clear that he would need to find a job.

He did find one; but none of his acquaintances were aware of exactly what he did. He became a trainee Unspeakable and the cover for his job was as an charms apprentice under some senior wizard. It was not that far from the truth as his work at the department of mysteries did involve charms. This job enabled him to move out from James' place and live by himself. All his acquaintances knew was that he had some low-paying job, and a remote chance to make some small breakthroughs in magic. As a matter of fact, in those young and naïvely ambitious days, he did dream of being the next Nicolas Flamel or Paracelsus.

The Marauders were not simple pranksters and with the possible exception of Wormtail, they were all brilliant in one way or another. James was a transfiguration expert and Remus was a bookworm. They were well-versed enough in charms to create the Marauders' map, an unprecedented feat in Hogwarts. The only thing was that they did not necessarily stick to curriculum and so their prowess did not reflect in their grades. Sirius himself was interested more in the theoretical aspects of magic. He was of the firm opinion that a better theoretical understanding would vastly improve the results that you seek. For example, an understanding of the application of magic, and the theory of gravitation, would help you to get a deep insight into the _Wingardium Leviosa. _This would for example enable you to elimiate wand movements, or even do the spell wandlessly with much less effort.

Sirius' firm opinion was that existing magical theory was entirely outdated. For example in potions, there had been no major theoretical progress after Paracelsus. It was Paracelsus who introduced minerals into potions and this greatly reduced the number of ingredients for certain potions. For example, you could obtain antimony from muggle sources and add to the polyjuice recipe, removing the need for twenty other ingredients and more than a hundred delicate things to ensure. Chemistry had developed far under Mendeleev and others and surely much simplification could be done in potions using the advancements in muggle chemistry? Similarly, in transfiguration, there was virtually no theoretical development since Nicolas Flamel made the philosopher's stone. All the developments in physics and chemistry were surely good for something and better ways of transfiguration could possibly be devised. Indeed, progress was possible about the very fundamental theory of magic beyond the prevalent superstitions. The philosophical theories of Kant and others, and physical theories of entropy, could all surely be used to understand magic better and change the very way it is currently practiced? Sirius wanted to be a theoretician, and in particular, he wanted to apply the power of science and pure mathemtics to magic. He would make passionate speeches about it.

He even made one to _her, _to Lily, who was supportive and assured him that he will indeed one day become an accomplished wizard. Her simple faith heartened him, when everybody took it for naive youthful fancy. They had started messaging shortly after graduation. He had initiated it for some trivial matter and went on to vehemently deny her accusation that he avoided her. Why, the very idea! Then he averred that he will make up for it from then onwards. They started talking about all sorts of things. They upgraded their communication equipment to a pair of mirrors. She was in her home or at London, and due to circumstances, Sirius was staying with his teacher in a town in the Rhine valley in Europe for his training. He didn't meet her in person except once for a house reunion; but they talked on the mirror quite a few times a day; eventually they spent hours on mirror.

That was when the flirting started in earnest. He would think of this or that metaphor her. He would conjure lilies after lilies and she would blush and would conjure flowers for him in return. This went on for more than an year. He would regale her with fascinating tales he read in his lonely childhood at the Black home. He would discuss with her about his philosophical overtures into the nature of magic. Lily herself was a more practical charms/potions mistress and had not indulged much in theoretical musings. He would always remind himself that this was James's girl. But sometimes he succumbed and indulged in a bit of storytelling; he would tell her this or that romantic tale and imagine himself as the hero and Lily the heroine.

A favorite source for these stories were the the riveting folk tales of Rhine. He had regaled he with stories of the beautiful Nixies and the young men who coveted them and met doubtful fates, of the wild Huntsmen and Dwarfs and Gnomes(Hainzelmannchen), of the troubled hero Siegfriend and his sweetheart Brünnhilde and her terrible revenge, of the knight Schwarzenbeck and two sisters who loved him, of the brothers Liebenstein and Sterrenberg, and enchanting tales of the enigmatic Loreley and Rhine maidens. He remembered the verses,

Die Luft ist kühl und es dunkelt  
Und ruhig fliesst der Rhein;  
Der Gipfel des Berges funkelt  
Im Abendsonnenschein.

Or,

The air is cool and as it darkens  
quiet flows the Rhine,  
and the mountain peak sparkles  
in the evening sunshine.

Those days, he did not have eyes for other girls. As he woke up, he would think of something sweet, romantic and poetic, and would rush to tell it to Lily, who too seemed to be spending her time with him ignoring whatever else she was supposed to do. He recalled how she was entranced listening to him, and her beautiful tresses and captivating smile. He thought it as harmless romance; but it was oh so hard on him. She and him, told each other countless silly and sweet stuff day after day. She was especially delighted when, in the course of him picking up the German language, he found Goethe's poems on his lover Lily and recited and translated them to her one by one. Some other verses really haunted him, given his identity as Padfoot and his doubtful romance/unromance going on with Lily, and reference in which Goethe imagines that he is her pet.

One day, he told her that if she liked poetry and romances so much, she should be finding herself a young poet, a man who also will appreciate her beauty. She replied that she already knows one; that Sirius is her own young poet, and it does not matter that he is sometimes quoting others' poems; that he has enough of a poetic mind for her to think up all the sweet things he used to tell her. He had a stupid and happy grin on his face for the remainder of the day.

Lily, once she got the motivation, eventually figured out how to send conjured flowers through the communication mirrors and afterwards, over the course of more than an year, Sirius must have conjured thousands and thousands of lily flowers for her, and she too in return. She used to send red roses and lilies. In the end, Sirius did a small reckoning and was shocked at the number of flowers they sent to each other. When he mentioned it to her, she told him not to worry and assured him that he was her most special friend and he deserved such things more than anyone else.

James probably suspected that something was going on between his friend and girlfriend, but said nothing for the bonds of brotherhood between them were too deep and James knew to trust Sirius.

As time went on however, this state of affairs turned into a deep ache for Sirius. The highly charged romantic atmosphere between him and Lily could not continue endlessly. It would seem she too was piqued by the countless tantalizing gazes and a few stolen mirror-kisses, and Sirius' obvious reluctance to take the next step. She seemed to want to put an end to the uncertainly in her life. She gave him more and more hints.

One day, she confessed to him about the boy she had inadvertently fallen in love with, without meaning to; someone other than James. The description chilled Sirius; she was portraying himself to the last detail. He pretended that he did not know who she was talking about and asked her who it was. She evaded by saying that Sirius knew the person, and she would say no more. Another day, when he was about to visit her city, she wistfully stated that she would like to be asked out on a date to go to a place like one of the romantic locations in Sirius's tales; that it was something she missed in her life. The hint was clear; but Sirius didn't take her out; in his mind he could not betray James.

Lily reacted by abruptly cutting off all contact with Sirius; she said that she valued all the affection and friendship; but it was taking too much of a toll on her and she would appreciate it very much if she could focus on the other things in her life. Sirius had no other option but to accede to her request, and kept silent. But the pain was like nothing he knew earlier; this was worse than severing ties with his family. And he could not even tell it to anyone. After three weeks of agony, Lily's birthday rolled around, and he figured that he could send her birthday wishes regardless of her injunction to get out of her life. He poured all his pangs and emotions into a poetic letter, trying with each syllable to put down his emotions, and sent it to her. She responded with delight and and called it the best present she ever got in her life; but also informed him that finally she had said yes to James's question of marriage, and announced their engagement.

He had wondered about it. Oh, it was clear why she took up dating James and got engaged. Surely love was the main factor; but there were other things too. Seeing that Lily was attracted to other men too(in particular the other boys she dated before getting steady with James), it appeared to him that one main aim in her life was financial stability. James could provide that for her far better than he could. Oh, he did have some inheritance from his uncle Alphard; but it was nothing the like the whole Potter family fortune that James had. Sirius's inheritance would last only a few years; James's would be enough to last a lifetime. Financially, James was the better choice. It would be very risky to marry a dreamer aspiring to be the next Paracelsus. Everyone knew how difficult it was to make breakthroughs in magic; this was one reason why the magical world was so stagnant for centuries. So he did know that Lily would be safer with James.

So he was surprised and numb at the news of engagement; but nevertheless did all that honor dictated. At first he had tried to wiggle out of attending the wedding; but he was James' best friend, and therefore the best man, and besides he could not say no when Lily pleaded with her emerald eyes. Why she wanted him there, he did not know, but he was there as best man. Lily looked fabulously beautiful in her wedding dress. As the bride giddily went home with the groom, Sirius comforted himself by saying that although his heart broke, he did it to respect the bonds of friendship and loyalty, and that must be good for something. He reflected that it is our choices that make us; that, he chose the only honorable route; that he really did not want to create another story of a Lancelot interfering between Arthur and Guinevere; that he would make the same choice were it presented to him again. Philosophically things were well and and dandy and he occupied the high moral ground; but then why did he ever feel so miserable whenever he remembered Lily? Why did he keep cursing himself?

Still, Sirius kept his determination. James and Lily started living together and Lily became pregnant. It suited her and she literally bloomed. As the war worsened and the light side needed more people, Sirius temporarily gave up his ambitions and returned to England and started fighting dark wizards. He became a trainee auror for more legitimacy. He was was close with James as ever, but less so with Lily. He still kept their contact, but some portion of his guilt and awkwardness remained. He did not know about her; but imagined that it must be so for her too.

Then Harry was born and Sirius happily took up the role of Godfather. Harry was not only James's son; he was also _her _son, Lily's son; so Harry was doubly dear to him. Later the Potters needed to hide because Voldemort was for some reason specially targeting them and the Longbottoms. The hid in a Fidelius-protected location and for most of the time only James went out; he did They almost never met face to face; but the correspondences continued, albeit the rate being much slower and the content being mundane and unromantic, like it should be between friends or acquaintances.

He often introspected, as he did now, whether this troublesome romantic history was why he declined the secret keeper position for the Fidelius charm. It was certainly the reason why he was catatonic with grief and despair after he discovered the Potters dead. He was already in the grip of depression even before he was thrown to the dementors. Nobody could have guessed this when he cried over and over in anguish, "It is my fault, it is my fault"! It would ever have to remain secret; a secret of his and Lily's hearts. He could not have explained it to anyone; even to Harry.

And his feelings could not be summarized better than in Goethe's short poem:

_Holde Lili, warst so lang  
All mein Lust und all mein Sang!  
Bist, ach, nun all mein Schmerz, und doch  
All mein Sang bist du noch._

Sweetest Lily, for so long  
All my joy and all my song!  
Alas, now all my sorrow too  
Though all my song is still of you.


	3. Sirius meets Hades and Persephone

Sirius eventually got away from the thread of reminiscences and remembered where he was and his thoughts returned back to the castle he was at, and the only one he knew of in the middle of a river, the Burg Pflazgrafenstein, or literally, the Palatinate Counts Stone Castle.

He recalled the romantic legend that the Count Konrad angrily locked up his daughter in this isolated castle when she dared to fall in love with the son of the enemy of the emperor, and, for a moment idly wondered if he could find out which room she had lived in. Then he ventured a look outwards and shock set in. The only similarities with Pfalzgrafenstein were the boat-like shape and location in the middle of some river.

Unlike the delightful Rhine, this river and the weather were drab and depressing; infinitely gloomier than the Rhine in the worst of the winter; indeed, more dolorous than even the waters of Azkaban. He had no doubt that more sinister horrors than dementors awaited those anybody not bona-fide trying to cross the river. The castle itself was ominously Black unlike the colorful Pfalzgrafenstein and altogether so baleful that even Death himself would be hard-pressed to find a drearier dwelling if he wanted.

It was clearly a magical place with many ghosts and other ethereal shapes floating around. Nevertheless they did not affect him badly unlike the dementors of Azkaban. He realized that he was treated rather nicely. Although it was obviously a magical place, his magical abilities were nullified inside wherever he was, as he found out to his consternation when he tried to unlock the door of his room.

When his eyes adjusted to the dark, he looked outside into the river and saw a crowd of people crossing the river, loaded into dismal-looking boats. They all looked ethereal and cadaverous. He saw many old and frail people who should not have been able to stand up, young soldiers with fatal injuries, and even weakly little children.

The boat's workers all seemed to wear some desolate "uniform", if that were the right word. Then Sirius saw people in similar yet subtly different attire visiting the newcomers; it seemed that these were the equivalent of medical people and were fixing up the ethereal bodies into top shape in no time. In contrast, the castle itself did not seem to have any such "doctors".

He recalled his last moments; going to save Harry to the Ministry, taunting Bellatrix, and falling into the Veil, and seeing the faces of despair on Harry and Remus and others and the look of triumph on Bellatrix. He realized with a jolt, he must be dead, and this must be the abode of Death. He was not far off in thinking Death itself couldn't possibly find a bleaker home. There was one difference though between him and the dead people crossing over what was clearly the river of death : and he was himself stuck in the castle in the middle and he had a physical body, which, he imagined, must have been a consequence of passing through the veil.

Evidently the Veil was connected to the room in the castle he was in and the Veil was clearly a one-way passage; otherwise dead people would have been able to come back.

* * *

Having nothing to do, he continued to sit in boredom without knowing how much time really passed. Finally, a stunningly beautiful lady with jet-black hair approached him. She was intensely attractive with a dark allure, toned legs and an impressive chest that reminded him of Jennifer Connelly.

She ushered him into an ornate-looking office on a higher floor. It was huge, easily of the size of the New York Town Hall, and Sirius found himself facing a stuffy middle-aged man, probably a bureaucrat irritated about extra work, speaking to the beauty who led him in. The pair eventually turned to Sirius. The the man rubbed his nose and spoke:

"Mr. Black, welcome to the afterlife, and sorry about the long wait. There are certain complications which we will get to in a moment. You may call me Hades and this is the lovely Persephone".

Sirius gulped and nodded; he was enough of a Black to know from Greek mythology about the dreaded Greek God of the underworld and the speaker was apparently named after him. The said God had abducted Persephone and made her his wife because he was so fearful that no woman would ever voluntarily be with him. Eventually they settled into a sort of comfortable married relationship and Persephone's influence softened Hades somewhat.

In more pleasant circumstances, he would not have been able to resist the temptation to hit on Persephone; but even he was not foolish to mess with Gods. He stuttered: "A-are you the God and his wife?"

Hades laughed in mirth like a hyena, a sound that sent shivers down Sirius' spine. "No, Mr. Black, we are not. We just use the name of the old bosses to give people a scare. Ages ago we actually had the Greek Gods among us and the God Hades ruled here, with his wife Persephone. Unfortunately with the end of ancient Greek civilization, the Gods too all vanished. Still, Death cannot take a rest and we the old staff continued to run the place. We even took the names of the old bosses and run the place as best as we can." He beatifically grinned at Sirius plastered a smile on his face in return. No, he was not pleased to hear confirmation that he was dead.

Hades continued, "I became chief here as I was the most senior and just look at Persephone and you can understand why she took the role of the original Persephone", he said with a leer. Sirius did understand. Oh, the lucky bugger. Hades went on, "Don't mind the appearances; she actually runs the place and has everyone twisted around her finger. All that aside, we are now meeting because you are in a a most irregular situation. Are you aware of what brings you here?".

Sirius replied, " Yes, I passed through the veil instead of dying normally and so in particular I still have my physical body and whatever attire I had."

Hades rubbed his forehead, and replied: "Ah.. If that were all, it would have been simple. We do occasionally get someone coming in through the Veil. An Unspeakable killed by curiosity, or some criminal chucked in by the ministry, or some political assassination, or someone falling in by accident. Regardless, the rule is clear and nobody who enters the realm of Death can go back. It has never been broken and the handful of people who thought they successfully broke, faced much grief later. The first ... the first was a beautiful chap called Orpheus, who could sing the pants off even the the original Persephone in such a way that Hades didn't mind, because his music even affected heartless people as him. Orpheus was to return; it was only fair; but Hades had to curb his wish to take his woman back with him. A lot of people have tried to deny Death its due; but nobody succeeded"; the man, in an impersonation of Death, continued, "Do you hear me? Nobody! Once three brothers from your accursed and perfidious island tried. Peverell their name was, and all three perished in their time. They thought they had defeated me; but the final victory was mine, do you hear me? Who do they think they are dealing with? I am Death, the destroyer of worlds..."

As the rant went on, Persephone slapped his arm, "Stop acting foolish. And stop misleading our guest with the wrong story of the three hallows. You can continue your monologue later; but I am afraid our guest is in a lot of pain, and it is unmannerly to let him suffer."

Indeed, Sirius acknowledged. He spoke up, "Yes, my fall from the Veil was a bit... unpleasant. I am afraid a few things are broken and maybe I have a concussion too. Do you have any alive healers here who could fix me up?"

Persephone prettily smirked, and admonished him, "That will teach you not to fool around with your mad cousin. Serious fights are not the right occasions for comedy and ridicule, especially when you are literally standing at Death's door.".

With that, she got up and proceeded to a nearby shelf. Sirius watched the sway of her hips in fascination. Hades noticed this and hid a long-suffering sigh. He was used for long to the effect she had on men. Persephone extracted a potion into a goblet and handed it to Sirius.

"Here, drink this. The closest thing in the mortal world would be the _elixir of life_".

Sirius uncertainly gulped it down, and, sure enough, all his aches, bruises and concession vanished, along with the ravages of Azkaban life and the two later years as fugitive. He now looked like a man of about twenty-two years, at the prime of health.

Sirius offered his thanks, and ventured to ask, "Why is the afterlife like this? How come it is as in the Greek mythology says? Why does it not look like something closer to British beliefs and traditions?"

Hades scratched his nose and replied, "That would be because of your Black family origins and your family's fascination with Greek mythology. All of you are named after Greek heroes/heroines. Also, magical Britain does not have an official religion, and the studies of ancient Greek/Latin that you do as part of pureblood upbringing before starting Hogwarts, does have its effect. The Romans got their religion from the Greeks, and the magical people during the Roman rule in Britain believed in those Gods. Even with the Viking and Norman invasions, the source of British cultural upbringing was from Greek/Latin classics. You learn all those Greek/Roman stories and believe them to some extent. Faith has much impact; faith can move mountains, and this is all the more true in the case when the believers are witches/wizards. Magic itself sees to it that an afterlife as per the perceptions of the people exists. Does that clear it up?"

Sirius firmly nodded, "I guess so. So are you saying that magical people of other faiths may face other kinds of afterlife?"

Hades replied, "Indeed, You are here because you are magical. Were you a muggle, you would got some muggle interface. Sometimes it is a muggle airport and people stand in immigration queues. There are separate lines for each faith and one each for agnostics and atheists. Everyone's first taste of afterlife would be as per what they believe in their real life. So, for example, in the last century, it used to be railway stations instead of airports. Even now, if a person who is more used to railways face death, they would see something like a cross station."

He went on, "In the same spirit, if you are an animal lover, you would get the opportunity to reunite with your erstwhile pets. Some mortal has even written a poem about that: When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again; and, there are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. On the day their favorite human reach the afterlife, they reunite forever and cross the Rainbow Bridge together. There is also another destination for hunting animals called the Happy Hunting Grounds. People passionate about hunting can visit these grounds in the afterlife and reunite with their companion dogs."

"Likewise, the Swedish and other people of Scandinavia would encounter Valkyries at the Valhalla. But you get what you get", Hades concluded with that beatific smile of him again. Sirius decided not to argue, hoping to end the monologue. But it seemed Hades was on a roll.

So Sirius butted in, "Er.. That is all well and good; how about my situation then?"

Hades controlled himself with an embarrassed smile and said, "Sorry about that, Mr. Black. Back to the topic, your case is highly irregular. Not only did you fall through the veil; additionally, we could not reach you for three full days, which is the time you were stuck in that room. We have a rule that no material objects from the realm of living can enter the realm of dead. So we must send your body back to earth. The standard operating procedure with people coming through the veil is to send their souls to the afterlife they deserve, and return the body to some random muggle location where the police dispose of it. Like I said earlier, given your remarkable life, I wanted to send your soul too back, to give you a second chance. Unfortunately even for great heroes this is impossible. There are a lot many heroes and it is simply not possible to give each of them a second chance; it is simply not done; Death must after all have final dominion over all souls."

"Now in your case, something was interfering and very few things can stand in the path of Death, the destroyer of worlds. In this case, it so happens that Destiny has taken an interest in you. We have learned this much by speaking with the spirit of Tiresias, the greatest prophet ever, who is our consultant in this domain for matters of destiny."

Sirius did know about Tiresias. He was the blind seer of Thebes. His powers continued even after his demise. In Odyssey it is described that Odysseus visited Tiresias in Hades' realm and availed of his services.

"Normally I wouldn't let anybody slip through my hands. In this case however, Tiresias and Persephone together have convinced me to accede to destiny's wishes. You lucky bugger! It would appear that the saucy woman has got a thing for you. She reviewed your life and is somewhat star-struck with your heroic life and the injustices you suffered, and your tragic end. She would like to offer you a second chance; to send you back to the world of living. We all are slaves of our women; what can we do; I must accede to her wishes", Hades said with a put upon sigh.

He continued, "Alas, sending you back is against all laws of nature, and besides the Department of Mysteries would start to poke their noses in places they don't belong, if someone returns from the Veil. What I would myself like to offer you instead is to send you to the Elysium, a domain of the righteous, the heroic, and those chosen by the Gods, and you can live there forever in happiness and pleasure, and enjoy whatever employment you had in life prior to your misfortunes. There you can live your life in the company of Gods and the likes of men such as Achilles and Hector, and beautiful women like Helen. I am sure you will enjoy it."

Sirius snorted and said, "Now I am almost middle-aged and I would think that being an auror trainee for life, hazed daily by the likes of Dawlish and Moody, is a bit too much to bear. Also I am not much of a hero, not after I stupidly went after Peter and caused Harry to be dumped at the Dursleys. I am a broken man by now, and it will be impossible for me to enjoy all the pleasures of Elysium. Instead, what would heal me most will be a reunion with James, who was a brother in all but name. It is enough to send me to whatever place in the afterlife he is at. My only regret is about Harry left without my support."

Persephone shot a glance at her companion that seemed to say "I told you so", who signed in turn, and confessed, "Tiresias also warned me that you would not take the option of the Elysium. So, I am supposed to check your pockets next..."

With this, Persephone approached Sirius and took out the brains that Sirius had stuffed in his pockets. He explained what they were and the intended purpose as best as he could. Persephone conferred shortly with Hades and made the offer to Sirius.

"Hearing your wishes, and also given my sympathy for your tragic life and the guidance of Tiresias, we offer you the following. Your soul will be parted from your body and sent to the Elysium where you will reunite with James and his wife per your wish. We also have a solution to your worries about Harry. You see, there is an old forgotten British prophecy that we can activate now. It very conveniently got smashed in the recent fisticuffs at the DoM and the Unspeakable would never find it again. What we refer to is this one."

With that, she took a remote control, and switched on a large display on the wall, and a flashback of a segment of the battle at DoM began to play. Sirius had not seen this part, as it was prior to his arrival, and so he paid attention:

**Flashback: ~oo00oo~**

_A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy had deflected it; his spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered._

_Two figures, pearly-white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak; their voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrix's shouts._

_"…__** at the solstice will come a new**__…" said the figure of an old, bearded man._

**Flashback ends. ~oo00oo~**

After the display ended, Persephone continued, "So that is the prophecy we are going to execute now. The relevant phrase is

"_..at the solstice will come a new.._"

"We do not know further details about the entire prophesy as it is not our business to interfere in matters of destiny. We can tell you that goes on to state that

"_a new man returning afresh after three days among the dead_".

"You came here on June 18th, and got stuck for three days. Now today is the summer solstice for 1996, on June 21st. So if we adjust you up a bit and send you back to earth, the prophecy will be set in motion. It will be best if your mind is cleaned up a bit. Honestly, Sirius, your mind is very messed up after Walburga's upbringing and Azkaban imprisonment and your years as fugitive. You simply have few good memories left.", said Persephone, and smiled in sympathy.

She continued. "This will also conveniently free up space in your brain for implanting stuff from the other brains you have brought. The first brain is that of a muggle college professor, a mathematics teacher, a 31 year old Mr. Thomas Anderson, who also had spent much time thinking on philosophical points on the nature of various stuff. He unfortunately met an early demise when he was carelessly lost in thought while crossing traffic. You will gain his memories and thoughts. Next are the brains of two Unspeakables. Another is the brain of a muggle electrical engineer. It would surely help to have the specialized magical knowledge. I am not sure what is the use of the muggle background; but according to Tiresias it must be done, and, oh, by the way, Tiresias says he must speak with you privately before you leave."

Sirius interrupted, "Then what about Harry? If what you are saying is correct, then I would be changed so much that it is as if somebody else goes back in my place, that someone may not feel any attachment to Harry.".

She reassured him, "No, Sirius, you will still feel a need to help Harry. However the emotional distance also has a benefit. You will be able to coolly analyze the situation and do what is necessary, without being affected by the emotional baggage. You will still retain all the important information; but you will view them more objectively. Really, it is all for the best, and besides Tiresias says it must be so."

Sirius thought about it at length and finally agreed to everything Persephone proposed. They shook their hands and began parting ways in preparation of the brain procedures.

Sirius stood up and paused: "By the way", he asked, "what will be the name of the person in my body? I understand Mr. Anderson is dead, and clearly you can't use my name."

Hades and Persephone grinned together and replied, "One word : Stubby Boardman."

Sirius grinned in reply, and gave a thumbs up.

In no time, the formalities at the office was over and he was awaiting to meet Tiresias. He was accompanied by a sultry smiling Persephone hanging on his arm. Hmm. Maybe she really did have a thing for him. This definitely had possibilities.


End file.
